European stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before eventually ending the day mostly lower.
The pan European STOXX 600 fell by 1.77 points or 0.4 percent to 463.64 after declining 0.3 percent on Tuesday.
The French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.5 percent, while the German DAX Index declined by 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.3 percent.
The major market indexes briefly turned positive following the release of a report showing a modest slowdown in the annual rate of U.S. consumer price growth in the month of April.
The Labor Department report showed the annual rate of consumer price growth edged down to 4.9 percent in April from 5.0 percent in March. Economists had expected the year-over-year growth to be unchanged.
The annual rate of core consumer price growth also slipped to 5.5 percent in April from 5.6 percent in March. The modest slowdown matched economist estimates.
With the annual consumer price growth marking the smallest 12-month increase since April 2021, the data added to optimism about the Federal Reserve pausing its interest rate hikes.
Buying interest waned shortly after the release of the report, however, as traders worry the slowdown in the pace of price growth is partly due to the U.S. heading for a recession.
Traders were also looking ahead to the Bank of England's monetary policy decision on Thursday, with the central bank widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points.
Data showed earlier in the day that German consumer inflation fell in April on easing food prices, but core inflation stayed high.
Finalized data showed German annual inflation rate softened from 7.4 percent to 7.2 percent in April, unchanged from the preliminary figure. The harmonized index of consumer prices rose by 7.6 percent year-on-year.
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum plunged by 14.5 percent after the drug maker agreed to acquire U.S.-based CTI BioPharma in a deal valued at $1.7 billion.
Travel firm TUI also tumbled by 5.1 percent after it posted a narrower quarterly underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss of 242 million euros ($266.39 million).
Dutch Bank ABN AMRO also slumped by 3.0 percent despite reporting higher-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.
Meanwhile, British caterer Compass Group climbed by 1.3 percent after posting strong first-half results and lifting its full-year guidance.
Melrose Industries also surged by 4.8 percent after the company said it was trading "materially ahead" of expectations.
The company also outlined plans to "create further substantial value" for shareholders by repositioning itself as a pureplay aerospace company.
French lender Credit Agricole also jumped by 5.0 percent after posting a record performance in the first quarter on higher trading revenue.
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